Wednesday, April 23, 2008

"The government has money to waste, the government has money to steal, the government has money to spend on benefits for a few .... It's time for benefits for mainstream Canadians, hard-working people who pay their taxes, who play by the rules."

The number in parentheses is the change from what the party received in the October 2007 general election. It almost appears the NDP are going to the Liberals, and the Progressive Conservatives are going to the Greens.

The Liberals say they want the bill to be sent to the immigration committee as well as the finance committee. They believe a parade of angry witnesses, including representatives of ethnic organizations who have condemned the legislation, will expose the "wrong-headed" and "arbitrary" nature of the Conservatives' plans.

Considering the amount of news that's being generated by this, I'd get that Press Releases section up and running sooner than "soon".

[Rep. Monique] Davis: It’s dangerous to the progression of this state. And it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! Now you will go to court to fight kids to have the opportunity to be quiet for a minute. But damn if you’ll go to [court] to fight for them to keep guns out of their hands. I am fed up! Get out of that seat!

[Rob] Sherman: Thank you for sharing your perspective with me, and I’m sure that if this matter does go to court---

Davis: You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

17 years ago, I supported the NDP. It was a couple of years later that I started supporting the Progressive Conservatives (thanks, in part, to Bob Rae).

17 years ago, I lived in a blue collar industrial town. Guys my age drove Camaros and Cavaliers depending on where you worked for the summer.

We all grew up ingrained with certain ways of thinking.

We grew up largely separated from those people different from us. I grew up Protestant; there were "the Catholics" that lived around the corner - they went to different schools and pretty much kept to themselves. Or, so I thought. There was not a lot of diversity to be had - again, so I thought.

While I'd like to think of myself back in those days as being on the low end of the objectionable scale, I'm pretty sure I said and did some pretty insensitive things - not really realizing what I was doing or who I was affecting.

For that, I'm sorry.

My general attitude toward social issues did not really change until the second year of university, where I gradually began replacing my old friends with people who had a broader viewpoint on life.

Today, my friends and acquaintances include a diverse group of people. I'm proud of that group of friends. I'm pretty open with my opinions with those who may not share them.

I still know though, that I'm not perfect. I clearly still have some work to do.

To make the activities and publications of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner more accessible to Canadians, and to increase contact between the Office and Canadians interested about privacy issues and legislation.

This blog will make a special effort to identify and highlight information and advice that may help Canadians understand their rights under Canada’s privacy legislation. We will be making a special effort to identify and explain material that will help owners, managers and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises to understand their rights and responsibilities under Canada’s privacy legislation.

This blog is not written by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Instead, it is group effort by employees working for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

The most recent postings have been about Facebook and its Privacy Policy. It's an interesting read for those interested.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Ottawa, ON – May 3rd, 2008 – On May 3rd, 2008 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM a protest opposing Bill C-484 will take place at the Peace Tower. Bill C-484, “The Unborn Victims of Crime Act,” has passed its second reading in Parliament as of March 5th, 2008. The bill creates a separate offence for killing a foetus when a pregnant woman is murdered. It gives an unborn foetus some human rights in these cases, which is a cause for concern in the pro-choice community. Under current Canadian Law, human foetuses are not considered persons(s) until they are born alive. If Bill C-484 should pass, the laws would be in conflict because the foetus would be considered a person and therefore the right to a legal abortion would come into question, as well as the rights of pregnant women in general. The law is clearly not concerned with the roots of violence against women and thus this bill would be a detriment to women’s rights. Similar laws have been passed in the U.S. resulting in dozens of women being punished for trying to “harm their child”. Let’s not let this happen in Canada.

We believe that the Government should look to pass laws that increase the sentencing upon those who commit violent acts against women, instead of passing laws just for foetuses that give women no ounce of protection and infringe on their rights.

Women and men are encouraged to come join us and the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada at the Peace Tower on May 3rd, 2008 to show their solidarity. We are encouraging supporters across Canada to hold similar protests as a sign of nationwide solidarity against Bill C-484.

When will the Conservative Party ensure there is a free and open competitive market with respect to the internet?

“This government’s hands-off approach to hands-on interference is bad news for Canada’s innovation agenda. The telecom giants have no right to decide which ideas are pushed into the fast lane and which ideas are left on the back roads,” said [NDP spokesperson on digital issues, Charlie] Angus.

The first response, by those that support the telecom monopolies, is that we should use our wallets and go to another service - one like Teksavvy perhaps.

This position puts the NDP clearly on the same page as the Green Party:

The Green Party of Canada is committed to the original design principle of the internet - network neutrality: the idea that a maximally useful public information network treats all content, sites, and platforms equally, thus allowing the network to carry every form of information and support every kind of application. Green Party MPs will pass legislation granting the Internet in Canada the status of Common Carrier - prohibiting Internet Service Providers from discriminating due to content while freeing them from liability for content transmitted through their systems.

Good for the NDP and the Greens.

Does the Liberal party have a position on net neutrality? The Conservative position is disappointing to say the least for a party that supposedly supports a free market.